Monthly Archives: February 2004

February 21, 2004 — Scott Johnson

Of links and fences

The new issue of the Weekly Standard carries two articles that are of special interest. In the first, Jonathan Schanzer reports on his jailhouse interview with Saddam Hussein’s liaison with Ansar al Islam. He in turn identifies one of his colleagues as “Saddam’s ambassador to al Qaeda.” The operational details of the assistance provided by Iraqi intelligence to Ansar al Islam jibe with the evidence Laurie Mylroie traces from the »
February 20, 2004 — John Hinderaker

What Is It With Artists?

The latest from the art world: a painting by Norwegian artist Chris Reddy, titled, for no apparent reason, “Anti-Semitism In the Name of God,” has been removed from a gallery in Oslo for being anti-Semitic. And “probably offensive [to] Americans as well.” Here is the painting, in which the “S” in USA and Israel is replaced by a swastika: The painting drew a complaint from the Israeli ambassador. The artist, »
February 20, 2004 — Scott Johnson

Meditating on Winston Churchill

Kevin Duchschere is a reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune who knows a good story when he sees one. His story in tomorrow’s Star Tribune previews the man bites dog event occurring in the midst of the Nobel Peace Prize Forum orgy of pacifism and fatuity at St. Olaf College this weekend: “Diversity — of the intellectual sort — in short supply at St. Olaf, students say.” The execrable Jimmy »
February 20, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

Good news

President Bush has given a recess appointment to judicial nominee, and Alabama Attorney General, William Pryor, placing him on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals through 2005. The Washington Post website headlines this story “President Seats Abortion Foe.” The story itself is captioned “Bush Again Bypasses Senate to Seat Judge.” As I said, good news. »
February 20, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

A transforming figure or a blip?

E.J. Dionne argues that the Dean campaign “did something very big,” that its “power lives on,” and that Dean has carved out a major role for himself. Characteristically, Dionne’s piece is confused. Much of it focuses on Dean’s tactics, such as his use of the internet, and I don’t think one can deny that some of these tactics will live on. In that sense, the Dean campaign was important. However, »
February 20, 2004 — John Hinderaker

Thought For the Day

Frederick Douglass: “The Republican party is the ship, and all else is the sea.” »
February 20, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

Socialist Realism

In my post below about the victimization of Max Cleland and Michael Dukakis, I neglected to mention a third alleged Republican campaign atrocity, this one committed by Jesse Helms. In one of his cmpaigns against a black Democrat who supported racial preferences, Helms ran an ad that showed a white man receiving notification that he had rejected for a job by an employer who used racial preferences. The Democrats howled »
February 20, 2004 — John Hinderaker

Those Energized Dems

Jim Miller has collected the data on turnout in the Democratic primaries so far. The results are interesting: with the sole exception of New Hampshire, turnout is low. Here’s just one comparison, the Wisconsin primary in 1988 compared to 2004: Dukakis–483,172 Kerry–327,672 Overall, turnout in Wisconsin this year was 17% below 1988. »
February 20, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

Kerry’s surrogate whiner

Rich Lowry on how former Senator Max Cleland has become “the new Flordia,” in other words, the poster child for supposed Republican election-stealing through low-blow tactics. It might be more accurate to call Cleland the new Michael Dukakis. For, just as in Democratic mythology Dukakis lost the 1988 presidential race because the Republicans ran a “racist” ad featuring Willie Horton (the murderer and rapist whom Dukakis released from prison on »
February 20, 2004 — John Hinderaker

Pawlenty Offers Democrats A New Idea

Minnesota has an excellent new Commissioner of Education, Cheri Pierson Yecke, who has been instrumental in promulgating standards in subjects like social studies that are not anti-American. This, naturally, has the Democrats in a tizzy. Ms. Yecke has not yet been confirmed by the state Senate, and it appears that the Democrats will try to block her. “She is on the fringes rather than in the mainstream,” [Democratic legislator Matt] »
February 20, 2004 — John Hinderaker

Famous Painting Alleged to be a Fake

When we were in London last fall, we spent a day at the National Gallery, a wonderful museum. One of the most striking paintings we saw was Raphael’s Madonna of the Pinks, described by the museum as the most important old master painting in Great Britain. The Madonna was prominently displayed in conjunction with the Gallery’s campaign to buy it. There was a sign next to the painting saying that »
February 20, 2004 — John Hinderaker

Union Influence: Where Is It?

After staying on the sidelines through the early Democratic primaries, the AFL-CIO endorsed John Kerry yesterday. The significance of the endorsement should be approximately zero. Remember the news flash when the Teamsters endorsed Dick Gephardt? Lots of good it did him. And remember the outrage in some old-Democrat precincts when other unions, like AFSCME, abandoned Gephardt, their life-long advocate, and endorsed Howard Dean because he was more “electable?” When Dean’s »
February 20, 2004 — John Hinderaker

Face to Face

Last night I taped a television show called Face to Face for broadcast Sunday morning (or maybe the following Sunday, they sometimes move shows around in response to events). This is a local show, produced by our friend Roger Conant, which appears on Channel 2, the public TV station in the Twin Cities, at 10:30 on Sunday morning. There are two permanent hosts, one liberal and one conservative, and two »
February 20, 2004 — Scott Johnson

The Zarqawi memo

I was dubious about the authenticity of the Zarqawi memo until reading the excellent Washington Post column by David Ignatius this morning: “Reading the enemy.” Ignatius is skeptical too, but he reports details regarding the acquisition of the memo by American military forces that lend credence to its authenticity. For more on Zarqawi himself, take a look at the fascinating Wall Street Journal page-one story that we linked to in »
February 20, 2004 — Scott Johnson

Kerry’s mental affliction

I hear the accent of Kennedy envy in the tape of John Kerry’s labored 1971 Senate Foreign Relations Committee testimony defaming all those serving in Vietnam. Howie Carr observes Kennedy envy in Kerry’s voting record, personal life, and even in Tuesday’s victory speech: The most interesting bit of Kerry’s victory speech Tuesday night in Milwaukee came right at the end, when he veered off his prepared text and began talking »
February 19, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

Anti-semitism yes, cultural suicide perhaps not

The Jerusalem Post reports that Jewish leaders have again appealed to the European Union to take a lead in stamping out anti-semitism on the continent. Nobel Peace Prize winner and holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel stated the “Jewish communities in Europe live in fear.” If the experiences of members of my wife’s family in France are any guide, Wiesel’s statement is no exaggeration. The situation results from a combination of the »
February 19, 2004 — Scott Johnson

Essence of Motown

The arrival of the singer/songwriter phenomenon in the 1960′s seems to have contributed to the death of Tin Pan Alley and the decline of popular songwriting as a profession. While some of the singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan and Paul Simon have consciously aspired to a place in the firmament of songwriters, the writerly workmanship even of the best singer/songwriters does not quite rise to the level set by the great »